Leukaemia clue found
Scientists hope the leukaemia breakthrough could improve treatment
Friday, 18, Jan 2008 04:08
Scientists studying identical twins have found evidence that leukaemia starts in the womb.
A UK-based team of researchers confirmed for the first time the existence of cancer stem cells that cause acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL).
They argue that the findings should lead to less aggressive treatment for childhood ALL and could also result in new, more effective drugs.
The scientists made the discovery after comparing cells in the blood of three-year-old identical twins Olivia and Isabella.
Olivia is being treated for leukaemia while Isabella is healthy.
Both had the same genetically abnormal primitive cells in their blood; these 'pre-leukaemic' stem cells live in the bone marrow and either lay dormant or go on to produce leukaemia stem cells.
The researchers found that pre-cancerous stem cells arise from an abnormal fusion of two genes during the mother's pregnancy. This creates a hybrid protein, Tel-AML1, which triggers a process that causes the cells to become leukaemic.
Professor Tariq Enver, who led the research at the MRC Molecular Haematology Unit, said: "This research means that we can now test whether the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in children can be correlated with either the disappearance or persistence of the leukaemia stem cell.
"Our next goal is to target both the pre-leukaemic stem cell and the cancer stem cell itself with new or existing drugs to cure leukaemia while avoiding the debilitating and often harmful side effects of current treatments."
Professor Mel Greaves, of the Institute of Cancer Research and co-author of the paper, added that the cells identified in the study "dictate disease course and provide the bull's eye to target with new therapies".